


Time To Stop Running

by FantasyIsMyReality2



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, Bonding, F/M, I ship these two SO HARD, Injured Rose, Interfering TARDIS, Omnipotent TARDIS, Post-Episode AU: s02e09 The Satan Pit, Pre-Relationship, Start of Relationship, The Satan Pit fix-it, concerned doctor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-20 11:12:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyIsMyReality2/pseuds/FantasyIsMyReality2
Summary: Slight alternate ending to 2x09, the Satan's Pit. Injured!Rose fic, because I'm a sucker for that trope. In my version, when the spaceship was being sucked toward the black hole, the crew got tossed around a lot more than was shown on screen. Rating is for future chapters, will go up. We begin with the Doctor's last line.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Me posting this is my birthday gift to myself. I'm shamelessly hoping for some kudos to add a cherry on top of my day (I LOVE my birthday), and to motivate myself to finish this piece, because I love it so. Comments and constructive criticism (especially of grammar) are always welcome. I cannot get enough of these two, and I will go down with this ship. Rating will go up in future chapters, because I have a dirty mind, and it's my birthday. Also, a happy birthday to the man himself, Mr. David Tennant. Enjoy.

"Oh, the stuff of legend." he said, and threw the switch, sending the TARDIS into the time vortex. Rose stood quietly by his side for a while, just watching him dance around the console, something she never thought she'd see again. He seemed thrilled to have his ship back, and her too, if that hug was anything to go by. She loved hugging him, and this most recent one was near the top of her all time favorites list for sure, even though the pain in her ribs knocked a grunt out of her when he picked her up.

          So lost in thought she was, replaying that hug, imagining what could possibly have followed it, that she forgot to brace herself for the large jolt that came when they landed in the vortex. The force knocked her sideways into the console, and with a sickening crack, her already bruised ribs made contact with one of the many knobs sticking out from his command center. She fell to the grating with a cry, tears forming in her eyes at the blaze of fire spreading along her side.

          The Doctor was beside her instantly, worry in every line of his body. He hated not being able to protect her, hated not being by her side when she was in danger. But now she was injured and he'd been so caught up in having both her and his beloved ship back that he'd forgotten to check her for injuries the moment he set her down. "Rose! What's wrong Rose? Please, talk to me!" he begged, one hand holding hers, the other cradling the side of her face gently. "R-ribs," she stuttered out through clenched teeth. "Your ribs? What happened to your ribs, Rose?!" The Doctor was bordering on panic now, seeing Rose in this much anguish. She _never_ complained about pain, ever.

          She'd twisted her ankle several times while running from danger with him, and the only way he could tell the first time was that she sat on the jumpseat while he piloted the TARDIS, instead of standing with him and helping him fly. He kept a better eye on her after that, doing a full scan on her immediately following every adventure they had, despite her continued reassurances that she was fine. That's how he found out about the other 2 times she'd sprained her ankle in subsequent trips. She'd also suffered a concussion and many nasty bruises in a variety of places too, but still not one word of complaint. He'd even caught her trying to use the dermal regenerator on her bruised and swollen knee after a run in with the Kraals. So for her to be showing any discomfort at all, let alone the tears he could see in her eyes, the Doctor knew she must be in agony.

          A particularly forceful squeeze to the hand holding hers pulled him from his panic long enough to recognize the how didn't matter just now. He needed to get her to the med bay, ASAP. He carefully lifted his companion into his arms, mindful of her side. A quick word with the TARDIS and the med bay door was moved to the end of the hallway. He carried Rose inside and set her down gently on the nearest bed.

          She immediately rolled onto her good side, turning her face away so he wouldn't see her being the weak human she was. Rose could no longer hold back the tears and they began to pour down her face, leaving a wet spot on her pillow. She closed her eyes, wishing the TARDIS would hide her until she healed. The Doctor's shuffling behind her abruptly stopped, and she had half a second to wonder if he had left, before a comforting hand cupped the side of her face, wiping the tears away.

          Rose opened her eyes and met the Doctor's, just inches from her own, worry and fear swirling in his chocolate gaze. "Rose, I need to take a look at your side." he said solemnly, no trace of the pity she was expecting anywhere in his voice. She nodded at him, trust shining in her eyes. Here he shifted, almost as though he was uncomfortable, and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I-I need to, um, lift your shirt." he said quietly, fidgeting slightly. Rose closed her eyes again, sighing in frustration internally as she understood what the Doctor was hesitating for. They'd never seen each other in anything less than their jimjams, which were pretty modest as far as Rose was concerned. But Rose was in too much pain to care about decorum at the moment, and she flat out told him so. He seemed to understand, as worry outshone the embarrassment she was sure he was feeling just then. She cupped the hand still holding the side of her face, giving it an encouraging squeeze. Her eyes opened again, meeting the Doctor's unreadable gaze.

          He pulled away abruptly, turning his attention to her jacket and shirt. The Doctor pulled down her jacket zipper, before gently easing her arms up so they were away from her side. He grabbed his trusty sonic and took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control before he was presented with more bare Rose Tyler skin than he'd had the pleasure to see thus far. Oh so slowly, he pushed her magenta shirt up, and what he saw had him sobering immediately. Rose had a truly enormous bruise covering most of her left side. There was no way her fall from earlier caused this, which meant she was injured while in Zach's care. He pushed down the fury he felt, needing to focus on making her better before he dealt with the morons who'd let this happen to her.

          Rose's eyes never left the Doctor's face, watching the play of emotions there. She caught the anger, and knew he was blaming Zach for her injury. "It wasn't his fault Doctor." Rose said quietly. He glanced at her, then quickly looked away. "Don't try to speak just now Rose. Let me take a look at this first."

          So saying, he adjusted his sonic's settings and scanned her ribs. Just as he suspected from the size of her bruise, she had fractured 2 ribs and bruised 2 more. He was willing to bet every breath she took was agony. He grabbed the osteogenic stimulator, thankful that this would be a quick fix. But when he turned it on and directed it to Rose's ribs, he heard a groan of pain from his left. He stopped immediately. "Rose, what's wrong? This is supposed to help."

          Rose suspected the Doctor had never been on the receiving end of this particular instrument. It was healing her yes, but the process of actually growing her bones back together was more painful than healing her skin or other soft tissues. She gritted her teeth and gripped the Doctor's free hand hard. "It is helping, just please get it over with, quickly." He nodded and went back to work. She sucked in a breath through her teeth. This felt worse than the initial break, but it eased relatively quickly. In less than a minute, Rose was finally pain free for the first time since that damn spaceship had tossed her around, though a slight ache remained.

          The Doctor set the osteogenic stimulator aside and took in his companion. She was visibly sweating, and had yet to release her grip on his hand. Her eyes were closed as she tried to get her breathing under control, which was still coming slightly faster than normal. He used his now empty hand to brush her hair out of her face and cupped her cheek again, willing her to look at him, to tell him everything was alright. "Rose?" he ventured tentatively.

          Finally she let go of his hand and opened her eyes, tossing him a tiny smile. It wasn't her usual, but it was good enough for now. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Better," she said. "Thank you." He brushed aside her thanks with a wave of his recently emptied hand. She grabbed it and placed it on her previously injured side, holding it there with her right hand. At his questioning gaze, she explained. "Still a bit sore there. Your hand is cold and it feels good." When he twisted to reach for the dermal regenerator, she stopped him with a tug on his hand. Rose could see the guilt still in his eyes, try though he might to hide it."It's alright Doctor, I'll be fine in a few hours. This is helping a lot already." She was hoping that would help ease it, and after a few moments, some of the tension left his shoulders, so she figured it worked to some degree.

          The Doctor desperately wanted to erase all remnants of her injury as quickly as he could. But he was loathe to take his hand away even for the few seconds needed to grab the dermal regenerator if staying where he was would help Rose. In the space of one deep breath, the Doctor made the appropriate internal adjustments to ensure his hand would stay cold as long as Rose needed it. When their eyes met once more in the comforting silence of the infirmary, he marveled (as he often did these days) at the love and trust he saw in her storm-green gaze, that it was still there even after all the hell he'd put her through.

          They stayed that way for a few minutes, both reveling in one another's company, before the Doctor could hold himself back no longer. He had to know. "Rose, can you tell me what happened?" She knew he wouldn't let it go, so she told him everything, how the Ood had turned on them, how they had to crawl through the air ducts, how she had meant to stay behind not wanting to leave him, but Zach saved her (making sure to emphasize that last bit), and how their trip on the rocket was more dangerous than expected. She ended her story by telling him how she'd been distracted and forgot to brace for the impact of landing in the time vortex, which was why she hit the console so hard.

          The Doctor sat quietly throughout, not wanting to interrupt, patiently waiting for her to finish. When it was clear she had, he laced the fingers of their free hands together and squeezed. "I'm so sorry Rose. You should never have had to go through that." She squeezed back. "It's alright Doctor. I chose to be here with you. No place else I'd rather be, honestly. And I feel fine, really. I have the best Doctor in the universe making me feel better." She gave him one of her tongue-touched smiles, the ones she reserved for him alone. That seemed to do the trick, because the answering smile on his face was the first one she'd seen since they landed in the time vortex.

          On impulse, the Doctor removed his hand from Rose's side and kissed the previously bruised skin, unable to override the burning need in him to make everything better. He let his lips linger, breathing in her scent, something so unmistakably _Rose_ that it eased some knot of tension in his chest with the proof that she was here with him, alive and well and just perfect. When he finally moved away, he gently replaced his hand over her ribs, his left hand reaching up to brush sweat-dampened hair from her forehead. She hummed quietly, the peaceful look on her face much more at home than the grey, tight visage etched there previously by pain. The Doctor savored moments like these, the calm between storms of adventure, where his itch for excitement was temporarily abated and she was content to watch him from wherever her post-adrenaline high made her crash.

          Belatedly, he realized she was about to fall asleep, which meant she needed to be moved. With no warning, he gently lifted her bridal style from the infirmary bed, refuting all her sleepy, half-hearted protests effortlessly. "I know you can walk Rose...I'm gonna put you down in a minute Rose...Because you can't sleep there Rose...Come off it, I'm a Time Lord, you're light as a feather.....Rose?" A quick glance down confirmed his companion had indeed fallen asleep, hands clutching his suit jacket tightly, head snuggled just so under his chin.

          He finally made it to Rose's room, which the TARDIS was kind enough to open for him. He glanced around him as he made his way to her bed, but something just to the left of her dresser stopped him dead in his tracks. It was a floor to ceiling mirror, and the image he saw reflected back at him sent a wave of emotion flooding through the Doctor. She looked so small and fragile, but so serene and strong and just _right,_ there in his arms. He'd never tell her this, but to him, that felt like the place she belonged, the one place he knew he could always keep her safe. He moved closer, wanting to take a closer look at the picture they made. The second wave of emotion that hit him was even stronger than the first, a mixture of love, joy, anger at the ones who hurt her, fierce protectiveness, slight sadness, and (if he was being completely honest) a touch of possessiveness. He wasn't sure how many of those he had a right to feel, but there they were.

          The Doctor studied their reflection for a few more moments, before turning away to settle her on the king sized bed in the center of the room. Unfortunately, Rose refused to release her grip on his jacket once he set her down, which put him in an uncomfortable situation. He needed space to deal with the onslaught of emotion brought on by the reflection in the mirror and Rose's injury, but he couldn't bring himself to wake her enough to untangle them. In the end, he realized he couldn't refuse her anything, regardless of her state of consciousness, so he kicked off his converse and lay down on his side next to her. He wrapped his arms around the still-sleeping Rose and pulled her into his chest, giving in to the urge to hold her close, to protect what was _his_ from the threats of the universe.

          Mentally, he shook his head at himself. Apparently his subconscious had decided to hell with his carefully constructed emotional barriers, throwing his most carefully hidden thoughts right out into the open to smack him square in the face. A smug chuckle echoing in his mind just then caused him to adjust that train of thought. The TARDIS was very pleased with herself for that little trick she just pulled in his head, he could tell. _Sod off_ he thought back at her, with absolutely no heat behind it whatsoever. Ignoring him entirely, the TARDIS chose that moment to turn the lights out and adjust her ever present humming to the one frequency she knew always put him to sleep, whether he wanted it or not. He hugged Rose tighter to him, tucking her head once more under his chin, before following her into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, but I did warn you that this piece wasn't finished. Here is the next update, though I'm not super thrilled with this chapter's ending. Major interfering TARDIS (my favorite)! Comments and feedback are always welcome, so don't be shy, let me know what you think! Also, I'm not British, despite my wishes to the contrary sometimes, so these characters' voices are OOC for them, meaning their phrasing and word choice and general syntax is not consistent with their canon English voices.

          When Rose woke the next morning, she panicked briefly, thinking she was still on that hell-hole rock, but a quick glance around set her at ease. She was in her room on the TARDIS, and everything was alright again, though she felt a slight pang of sadness at the empty bed beside her. Rose had woken up in the middle of the night when he turned on his back and brought her with him, but she had been too exhausted to think much on it, falling immediately back to sleep. Rose understood though, the Doctor needed significantly less sleep than she did. She couldn't very well expect him to lay beside her quietly for as long as she was asleep. He was too antsy for that. But there was a small part of her that wondered what would change, if anything, after their intimate moment in the infirmary last night. It took all her self-control not to react when he had kissed her side, but she didn't want to ruin the moment and make him move any sooner than he wanted to. Surely though, the fact that he stayed at least part of the night meant something major had shifted between them, right? Rose sighed. _Apparently not._ With a groan, Rose heaved herself out of bed, ready to start the day, mentally preparing herself to act as though nothing had changed, since that was most likely what the Doctor would do, and quickly moving on. No point in dwelling on something that would never change.

          She decided a shower was definitely in order, along with a change of clothes, seeing as she was still in yesterday's outfit. The hot water did wonders, and Rose exited the bathroom feeling better than she had since they had first landed on Krop Tor. Clad in only a towel, she was just reaching into her wardrobe when the Doctor walked through the open door carrying a breakfast tray laden with food. She was startled for a moment, whipping her head around in surprise, but then she shook her head at him and resumed her search for a suitable outfit.

          The Doctor was brought up short at the sight before him. He had a habit of not knocking before entering, but his clever Rose knew this, so she was always changed before she exited the bathroom. Now, not only was she standing in front of him, slightly damp, in nothing but a towel, but she didn't seem to care! The same could not be said of him, however. He most definitely _did_ care. His gut clenched when she bent slightly to reach for some clothing. He knew he should turn around, but after last night, something had shifted. He physically couldn't make himself turn away from her. Superior brain power, he was pretty sure he had it, vaguely recalled a connection to some superior physiology-type stuff in there too, but for the lives of him, he could not handle one more moment of rejecting her. " _Rose_." he choked out, needing her to acknowledge him and put a stop to this madness, before he did something monumentally stupid which would make her want to leave the TARDIS for good.

          "Alright there, Doctor?" she called, voice slightly muffled by the wardrobe. When he didn't answer, she shifted slightly to put him in her peripheral vision. He was standing stock still, tension in every line of his body, knuckles clenched white on the handles of the breakfast tray. Concerned, she turned around fully and walked over to him. A closer look at his eyes, which had not left her person since he entered the room, revealed blown pupils, nearly eclipsing the normally warm chocolate brown of his irises. Even more worried now, Rose took the tray from him and set it on her nightstand. "Doctor, are you alright? Doctor, please talk to me, you're worrying me." Still no response. Panic began to well up in her, but a calming presence in her mind washed it away like the tide erases a child's drawing on the beach. _Worry not, my Wolf._ _He is alright,_ said the presence.

          Belatedly, Rose realized it was the TARDIS. She had always been able to feel the time ship's presence in her mind, but never before had the old girl actually spoken to her. Tentatively, she responded. _What's wrong with him then?_ she asked, relief quickly giving way to curiosity. _Emotion does not come easily to a Time Lord,_ said the TARDIS. _You must be careful with my Thief, and make sure you both understand the consequences of your actions._ Confused, Rose went to ask what, exactly, did that mean, when the presence in her mind suddenly spread out through her whole body, instantly locking her in place. One look at the surprise on the Doctor's face confirmed he was in the same boat, though she was relieved he had finally done something, even if it was just to change facial expressions.

          Once more the TARDIS spoke up, though now Rose had a feeling they both could hear her. _The time has come,_ she said. _You have reached your moment, the one that will define you both. It is up to you to decide where you go from here._

          If that was supposed to help, it really didn't. Rose was even more confused now than before. The TARDIS sensed this, and gave the Doctor a mental nudge.

          He cleared his throat several times, trying to reign in his surprise and not-so-mild panic so he could attempt to explain, though he was still a touch confused. He knew what the old girl was on about, but never in a million years did he think she would ever get involved in something as trivial as this. The TARDIS sent her equivalent of a glare at him. _Don't be daft,_ she said. _You should know better by now_.

          _Oh._ A light bulb went off in the Doctor's head just then as several things clicked into place at once. He did know better, that was thing. He should have seen the signs, realized what they meant. His wonderful ship never got involved in trivial things, which meant this was not as trivial as he made himself believe. He couldn't see his timeline, never had been able to. But he had never seen Rose's either, and now he understood why. Hers ran so closely parallel to his that it was nearly impossible to tell them apart. On Gallifrey, that meant only one thing.

          His mouth fell open at the TARDIS's smug grin. _You're kidding me,_ he thought. _You can't actually be serious...can you?_ He needed to be absolutely sure before he allowed himself to hope. _It's time to stop running_ she said, and then fell silent. He took a few moments to process this, and then looked at Rose again for the first time since the TARDIS nudged him. He could read the confusion written on her face, plain as day. But once more, he saw that unwavering love and trust in her eyes, and in that, he knew he had the answers to all his questions. He took a deep breath, and plunged in, as graceful as ever.

          Rose watched the play of emotions on the Doctor's face, and figured he and the TARDIS were having a chat. She waited as patiently as she could, but the curiosity was starting to drive her nuts. Finally, just when she thought she couldn't take any more, he turned his chocolate gaze on her once more. What she saw left her momentarily stunned. There was only one word for the emotion there: love. Could it be, could he really love her? Rose didn't want to hope, but it was hard not to with such blatant proof staring her in the face. Just then, he spoke.

          "I, um, imagine you're a touch confused about what's going on, Rose. The thing is, well, it's a rather-perhaps we should-well no we can't-" Here Rose interrupted him, trying to stave off the beginnings of a major ramble. He was as nervous as she'd ever seen him, though she hadn't the faintest idea why, but she would try to set him at ease. "It's alright Doctor, just you an me, yeah? We'll get through whatever it is, together, I promise."

          The Doctor kicked himself internally. _This is going spectacularly well, splendid job old man. Try again._ "Rose, back on Gallifrey, certain Time Lords were given a gift, and it turns out I'm one of them. You know I can't see my own timeline, but there's one other person's I've never been able to see either. For me, that means it's so closely aligned to mine as to be nearly identical. That timeline is yours, Rose." He paused at Rose's sharp intake of breath, glancing up to see her eyes wide in shock...and something else. Could that be hope he saw in her storm-green eyes?

          Of all the things she expected to happen today, this was definitely not one of them. She never even expected to talk about what happened last night, let alone hear this. She was just barely allowing herself to hope, but she needed to be absolutely sure of what he was telling her. "Doctor, what's that mean, exactly?" she said quietly, fighting hard to keep her tone neutral.

          "On Gallifrey, it meant the pair were destined for one another, bound together in a single, shared timeline. On Earth, you would call them soulmates." he said, gaze guarded as he watched her reaction. This was major news for her, he knew that, but he hoped it was good news.

          Rose felt tears gather in her eyes, the full meaning of his words hitting her like a freight train. She was thrilled, but how could she be ok with this if her timeline was so much shorter than his? Wouldn't it be even more painful for him when she died than it would without this shared-timeline thing?

          The Doctor started to panic as he noticed tears in her eyes, but the TARDIS still held them firmly in her grasp. He couldn't go to her, wrap her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright, despite the feeling of his hearts breaking. She didn't want him like that, she just saw him as a friend, and why wouldn't she, sad, lonely, angry old Time Lord that he was. "Rose, it's alright, we can figure something else out if this isn't what you want, I know-" but she cut him off again.

          "What about you?" she said, sadness lacing every word. He was completely flummoxed. "What about me, Rose?" he said, confusion plainly written on his face. "You live so much longer than I do, what will happen to you when I die? How could I be selfish enough to take what I want, what I really, _really_ want, and disregard the pain it will cause you one day?" she said, tears now flowing freely down her face.

          At her words, the Doctor felt hope soar in him once more. If this was her only worry, he could set it to rights easily enough. _Free us, please?_ he asked his ship. She obliged him happily, thrilled her Thief and her Bad Wolf were about to get what had been rightfully theirs since the beginning of time.

          He reached out a hand to her, and she took it gratefully, the comfort of this simple touch just what she needed. He pulled her to the bed and arranged them in the same position they were in last night. He gave her a moment to relax, allowing himself a contented hum when she gripped his shirt and pulled herself tighter against his chest. When her tears had quieted, he spoke softly to his beloved companion. "I would like to show you something, Rose, if I may, but I need your consent. I need you to be ok with the TARDIS going inside your mind." Rose paused briefly, wondering where this was all going. "Um, ok. What do I do then?" she said. "The TARDIS will do it all for you, but you need to say yes to her." he said.

          Tentatively, she reached for that constant presence in her mind. _Yes, please._ she said. In a moment, she no longer saw the backs of her eyelids, but a single golden thread stretching on infinitely before her. _Look closer,_ the Doctor's voice urged her. She obeyed, and realized it was not one single thread as she thought, but rather two separate threads set so close together they appeared as one. _Are those...ours?_ she asked the TARDIS, who responded with an affirmative hum. _Now look at the end,_ said the Doctor. She turned her gaze toward the horizon, unable to see an end in sight. _I can't see an end, Doctor,_ she said, confused. _Exactly,_ he replied. _When you took the Time Vortex into you and became the Bad Wolf, the TARDIS made a few changes while she was at it. One of which was your lifespan._

He could feel the exact moment she understood him. _Forever,_ she breathed. _I can give you your forever now, can't I Doctor?_ He chuckled lightly. _Actually, it's your forever, my Bad Wolf. If you choose to give it to me._ She sent him her confusion _. Your life is now longer than mine. The final step for those soulmates on Gallifrey was to permanently merge their timelines together and forge an unbreakable bond. The party with the shorter timeline would extend the timeline of the other, so they would never have to live without one another,_ he explained...and was promptly overwhelmed by the pure joyous emotion flooding through his companion. It knocked them both back into the visceral plane on the TARDIS.

          Rose wrapped her arms tightly around the Doctor and pulled back so she could look him in the eye. "Yes. A thousand times yes, Doctor. You can have my forever and everything else. I'm yours, if you'll be mine," she told him, eyes watery now with love and joy for him, only him. "Oh Rose, I'm yours, forever and always" he breathed, still overwhelmed by emotion. She brought her hands up to cup his face and gently leaned her forehead against his. "I love you, my Doctor." She said quietly, not wanting to break the serenity of the moment.

          "My Rose, I love you too." He said, and then could hold back no longer. He tilted his head until finally, _finally_ their lips met, and it was like fireworks going off in his head. He allowed them a few more moments to snog, before pulling away and resting his forehead against hers. "Let me do this properly, please?" he asked her. She seemed a touch confused, but nodded, always so trusting. He hugged her tightly for a moment, then let go and rolled back until he could slide off the bed and kneel next to it. He held out his hands, and she swung her legs over to sit on the edge of the bed in front of him, before putting her hands in his. "Rose, you make me happier than anyone else in the universe. I can't imagine spending one more moment without you by my side. Will you bond with me? Become my partner in life and love and adventure? Will you agree to unite our timelines, make us as one, be bondmates for the rest of our forever?"

          Rose felt her eyes tear up once more at his beautiful words. She was overwhelmed with love for this man, this impossibly wonderful Time Lord, who was hers for all of time. "I love you Doctor, and I will always love you. Every moment spent away from you is consumed with thoughts of returning to your side, where I will spend the rest of my days. I will be your partner, your bondmate, in everything this life has to offer, until time itself has run out. Yes my love, I will bond with you, and finally be completed."

          Now it was the Doctor's turn to cry. Never before in his 900 years had one person managed to make him feel one ounce of the love and devotion he felt with Rose. He was a very lucky Time Lord indeed. He knew now that he would never again be so devastatingly alone as he was after the loss of his planet and his people. He had his Rose, they had each other, and all the demands of time could shove off while he stayed in this one moment with the woman of his dreams for the rest of their lives.

          He stood up, pulling Rose with him, and hugged her to his chest as tightly as he could. "I'm never letting you go Rose, not ever." he said, with quiet conviction. She laid a hand over each of his hearts, and placed a kiss on his sternum. "I'm never leaving you Doctor, never." she said. "So what's next then? How do we do this?" Rose asked, eager to join with him in every way possible. He chuckled, delighted by her enthusiasm. "There's no ceremony, if that's what you're on about. But I would like to do something for us, just us, if that's alright with you?" "Of course. What is it?" The Doctor smiled softly. This was not how he envisioned this day turning out, but how fortunate was he that it had! And he planned to take full advantage of this incredible opportunity.


End file.
